Clouds increase, Carson gives a speech

Since this is my last day at WCSH/WLBZ, and subsequently my last blog post, I'll be giving a speech at the end of this article. But to spare those who don't care (99%) I'll get to the forecast first.

Today: Although some of us are waking up to a good deal of sunshine, clouds are rapidly spreading northeastward this morning. Maine will find itself in a bit of a "squeeze play" between a coastal low just northeast of Cape Cod and a cold front approaching from the west. Although neither feature is super strong by itself, the combination will bring increasing clouds, coastal drizzle and showers. The immediate coastline will be the first region to deal with thick stratus cloud cover and light showers; occuring as early as 8 AM. Meanwhile farther north and west a mixture of sun and clouds will hold on until 11 AM or even noon. After that look for mostly cloudy skies and some scattered showers. Temperatures will stay in the 70s statewide, with Downeast perhaps not even getting to 70 F with an onshore flow.

Tonight: As the cold front pushes slowly through the state look for mostly cloudy skies, some patchy fog and scattered showers. The shower activity looks to be pretty tame, with just light sprinkles for the most part, but an isolated downpour can't be ruled out early in the evening. Overnight lows will end up around 60-65 F.

Monday: The aforementioned cold front will take its sweet time moving through Maine tomorrow. As a result look for mostly cloudy skies with scattered showers and thunderstorms. It looks like the best chance of consistent thunderstorm activity will be over western Maine and into the mountains as the front gets "hung up." Elsewhere low level cloud cover will keep temperatures down and scattered showers will pop up and fizzle just as quickly.

Most of us will clear out on Tuesday as the front finally pushes northeast. The result will be a mixture of sun and clouds with temperatures in the upper 70s to around 80 F. Northern Maine won't be as lucky as residual cloud cover will linger through early afternoon, with an isolated shower also not out of the question.

Wednesday and Thursday both look fantastic as a ridge of high pressure builds in. Mostly sunny skies will dominate and temperatures will hover around 80 F with low humidity.

Speech:

I owe this opportunity with The Weather Channel to the staff of WCSH/WLBZ and all of the you reading this. Our veteran anchors/reporters/producers built this station into a bonafide Maine instituation. Without that groundwork and the support of all of you who took me, a BOSTON guy no less, and adopted me as an honorary Mainer, The Weather Channel never would have caught wind of me. This is an opportunity that I couldn't say no to, but the truth is I thought about staying for longer than you might have guessed. The reason I had to heavily consider whether or not to take a job on national TV is simple: Maine rocks and WCSH/WLBZ is truly a family.

I'll be sad to leave this family and I will always be grateful for all the viewers who helped launch me into the big leagues.